Gift ideas for middle aged lady - drawing a blank.

[flalalalala]

She's approaching late 40s. Likes to be a bit younger in the way she dresses and says she doesn't feel her age.

Budget around 20-30 , she has just received a huge bottle of her favourite fragrance so that's a no go.
She doesn't do cook books and so on as she trained in restaurants and prefers to research her own recipes. Cooking gadgets a plenty.

She's quite practical but also a bit partial to something "nice" but not OTT.

Any ideas would be really handy as I'm drawing a blank!

Oh crap. Am I middle aged? Nobody told me...

I wouldn’t want any cashmere or jewellery I hadn’t chosen myself, gloves or scarves, or random smellies, and I don’t know anyone out of their teens who is at all interested in bed socks and hot water bottles.

I would prefer:
A book token
A terrarium
Friends LEGO set
Hotel chocolates
A new wetsuit
An oxfam goat

Cringing at middle aged!!! as a new 49 year old id like vouchers to buy sports gear or to purchase things for my mtb!!! Arrrghhh middle AGED!!

Not bed socks. I’m in my 40s. Sleep with a window open and would not dream of bedsocks

I'm 55.
I would like really chunky Wellie socks for walking the dog in the winter
A stylish pen that writes nicely
a tennis lesson
Every year I get a Waterstones voucher that I love spending.
A monogrammed journal type notebook
Power bank for my phone
Hedgehog house for my garden

I'm 51 and if anyone bought me bed-socks, or a rug for my knees (!!!) I'd think they'd lost their mind! . A good bottle of gin is always appreciated though, or a cheese hamper. Not chocs, and no more bloody candles please. Or something off my Amazon wish list.

This threat reminds me of a conversation between two ladies in a shoe shop I overheard last year. One was in her Eighties and she said to the younger (maybe in her Sixties) one “There is nothing I like here, these are all old lady shoes.”

I'm 46 and I would like something that feels like a luxury that I would never buy for myself- white company, diptyque really good ideas

However my best friend (also 46) wouldn't even know those brands as she's not interested- and she is a 'practical' type - how practical is this lady?

Candles are the ultimate generic gift for women unless you know they like them.
Some fab suggestions on here.

Turtle doves must be the middle aged gift of choice. I am 45 and have so far been given 3 pairs.

@slipperyeel

Turtle doves must be the middle aged gift of choice. I am 45 and have so far been given 3 pairs.

My 13 year old DD wants one as she wears gloves in the classroom and can’t properly write with them. I had to hide mine.(and order her a pair in the hope she will be back in school).

I'm older and I'd not wear wrist warmers, I want proper gloves. They're pointless. I'd love some books.

I would also suggest the Macrons. I have asked my brother to get me some from Laudree however I see another poster says that they cannot order them. Perhaps another company do them.

I got a present of a colour changing umbrella that someone bought me in Waterstones which I love. It makes me smile when it rains. I probably would not have bought it for myself but love it as a gift.

Earrings (studs) loccitane do lovely lotions.
Mukluk slippersocks

OP I'd just say "woman in her late 40s" or "colleague in her late 40s" or something like that next time! It gets across the same basic information. Of course late 40s is middle aged, but "middle aged lady" makes it sound like you see her as a completely different species, which is a bit brutal if you're that age and could easily have kids at primary school/low secondary. I mean you might well have nothing in common with her, but if so it's not going to be because she's crossed over some magic age line you haven't reached yet.

Nice bubble bath, posh hand cream, coffee and trimmings(cute cup, biscuits, vanilla syrup) voucher bit dodgy at the moment (shops going bust) so I'd give them a miss.

I know you said cookbooks are out but have you ever thought of vintage or victorian bit grim but fun and interesting to read

I’m middle aged, I’m mid 40’s 😂.
That’s not synonymous with losing interest in life though, if that’s what those offended by the term implied.
I love bed socks, I also lift weights for fun, I bake and do mountain biking most weekends, I’m planning a masters and to drop a day at work , I have afternoon naps and run twice a week at 6 am. I love make up and perfume and go out in my pyjamas to walk the dog 🤷🏻‍♀️, I love sea kayaking, which is not something for the faint hearted, I also do the whole hygge with candles, blankets, sheep skins and ceramic mugs.

What the OP has asked for is something generic for a lady she doesn’t know very well. If the lady in question was in her 20’s, or 80’s, or a new mum, or someone who is battling cancer, we’d think of something around that, wouldn’t we?

Be kind.

To answer your question, @flalalalala
I would choose a book and some chocolate :)

BuddhaAtSea
Get you!
You go girl

I think it's clear from the thread that middle aged ladies are as diverse a group as any other group and all like different things.

I personally wouldn't want to get bedsocks unless they're cashmere. I wouldn't want anything cooking related, or any kind of body lotions, bath stuff or any of that.

I doubt you would get me a book I would like.

I buy my own alcohol but would be ok if you got me a bottle of single malt or gin.

I'd find a candle a bit dull, although I do (now) like them. I'd be happy with quite a lot of skin care stuff probably. Also good coffee and chocolates.

God, 47 here and cringing at the terminology in this email!

If it was me I'd like:

Ordinance Survey Quiz book
A giant ass Toblerone
Glossier make up
Keratase hair products
Good quality notebooks/stationary for journaling
Knitting books and any assorted knitting paraphernalia
Orla Kiely accessories
L'Occitane Cherry Blossom bubble bath
Tatty Devine jewellery
Victoria Wood biography

Better go and drink my Horlicks and put on my quilted housecoat now.

Flowering tea?

And a nice teapot and glass mugs like this.

I am your definition of middle aged. I would love book tokens ir Amazon tokens so I can get books for my kindle.

Babysitting (when life resumes)
Help with certain things (garden etc)
Better kitchen items
Books / book tokens
Theatre or cinema tokens
Lessons (musical instruments, languages, make-up)
Duolingo + subscription

A pair of expensive (and useful) gloves possibly with a matching scarf.